UCI's New Narratives: Conservative Voices Not Welcome

"New narratives"


Last year, after attending an event at UC Irvine, which was part of a series of speaking events under a program entitled, "New Narratives", I made inquiries as to when and if this program might host any conservative speakers. To my knowledge, no conservative speaker has ever spoken at a New Narratives event. That led me into an email exchange with the creator of New Narratives, Dr Thomas Parham, vice chancellor of student affairs. I even suggested certain speakers like Thomas Sowell and Larry Elder, both prominent black conservatives who are located in California. Dr Parham advised me that speakers were chosen by a selection committee, but he would pass on my suggestions to the committee. Nothing ever came out of that exchange. Here is the current running New Narratives web page showing their schedule of events past and future. In actuality, there have been no events since May and nothing is currently scheduled. I invite the reader to search for any conservative speakers.

Dr Parham is leaving UC Irvine at the end of the current school year to become president of California State University at Dominguez Hills (south of Los Angeles). I don't know what the future of New Narratives will be in his absence, but the page is still active at UC Irvine's web site.

As it is currently constituted, New Narratives, in my view, is dedicated to identity and grievance politics. It is designed to paint a picture of America as oppressing minority groups. While that is undoubtedly a part of our history-even when I was a child growing up in the 1950s and 1960s- I don't believe that is true today. We still have racial issues and differences, but true discrimination is against the law, and we are not oppressing anybody. There are conservatives who are black or belong to other minority groups who agree with me, but their voices are not welcome on university campuses.

That seems to include New Narratives.